“They’re for identification. Soldiers from my world are all issued a pair.”
“Why two?”
I paused to take another drag, then exhaled along with a sigh. “For soldiers killed-in-action. One stays with the body, the other goes with the unit, or me in this case.” Meriel started wringing her hands in the lap, probably regretting the question. “It’s just how we do things, don’t sweat it,” I said with a wave of my hand, only then noticed the wisps of smoke around us. “The smoke isn’t bothering you guys, is it?”
“What? No,” Meriel answered rapidly. “It’s fine. The smell is nostalgic; reminds me of The Arms.”
Fell hummed in agreement, finally closing the Bible. “Sharing tales over smoke and drink is common in The Arms of Earus. The only smell I despise is leaves from Cipus trees. Every autumn, people harvest the fallen leaves, grind them down, and smoke them throughout the month. The overpowering smell burns my nostrils and makes me nauseous.”
“Can I try?” Meriel asked.
“Knock yourself out,” I said as I handed over the cigar. “Don’t inhale or you’ll cough your lungs out.”
She scoffed then took a deep draw, exhaling the smoke easily from her nostrils. “I’ve had a cigar before, Oliver.” She slicked her lips and stared down cigar. “Not bad, but a little stale.”
Huh. Weird hearing a different world can grow tobacco, let alone having people smoke it traditionally. Life can only exist under certain circumstances, so there was bound to be a similarity here or there.
Fuck, that’s whacky to think about.
Fell got curious and asked for a puff. While the girls smoked the second to last Dominican cigar in existence, I started on the fish soup and bread. My stomach didn’t want anything, but it wasn’t worth arguing over. My body was still sore and tender, and it was going to need the energy to mend itself. Wren had her hands full with the two people who needed it most.
As I finished the last of the soup, we got more company. Slithering in through the doorway was Nuna with two others behind her. One was Tru, and the other was Yanet, one of Wren’s helpers that had patched the girls and me up the day before. Yanet was one of the younger ones, though she had slightly more refined features, putting her around my age. Her chestnut hair was in a pixie cut, and she was of the few lamia who had light brown eyes, which matched the diamond pattern of her khaki and black scales.
Sensing where this might be going, I set the bowl aside and stood for Nuna.
“Look, I got ahead of myself and didn’t think when I blurted out to your mother.”
Nuna didn’t react. Instead, she whispered something to Tru, who remained by the door, and then slithered to the foot of the bedroll with Yanet. “Sit down, Oliver. I’m not here to remind how much of an ass you can be.”
She and Yanet sat on their coils, and then waited for me.
Confused as to what they wanted, I sat down and asked, “What is it?”
Nuna chewed on her lower lip, then looked to Tru, who looked down either end of the hall before nodding. “This plan of yours,” she treaded slowly, “what are the flaws you speak of.”
Blinking, I looked to Fell and Meriel. They were just as puzzled as I.
“Nolala told me to drop it.”
Nuna clutched a hand over her wrist as she looked down in thought. After a long stretch of silence, she looked dead and to my eyes and asked, “Did anyone ever explain to you how one becomes chieftain?”
“No.”
“When the current chieftain grows too hold, they choose the successor based on a myriad of factors, but the two defining characteristics are that of heart and wisdom. Those in charge because of mere power only produce brutes. Those in charge with no heart only produce cowards. And those in charge who lead with only their minds only produce fools. My mother has earned her title rightfully, but I worry that the pressing times have clouded her eyes. Maintaining the well-being of everyone for the foreseeable future is making her ignore the likely inevitable.
“You’re right, Oliver. We’ll more than likely starve to death before we can receive any aid. Everyone is keeping their hopes up, but they’re scared. I’d rather be dead than witness their spirits break. For the sake of everyone, and to be worthy of the privilege to one day become chieftain, I think it’s in our best interest to make your plan work.”
Meriel handed off the last of my cigar to me and scooted forward. “You’re saying you want to go behind Nolala’s back?”
“Yes,” Nuna replied immediately.
“That… doesn’t sound very wise,” Fell cautioned.
“It isn’t, and the consequences for disobeying mother’s word will be severe. Now, what are the main concerns for the plan?” she asked, not all fazed by what she stated.
I rubbed my neck, still getting tingles from how Nolala hoisted me up like a lapdog who pissed on the floor. “Yeah, as much as I'd like to experience that again, the plan is just too out there.”
“How so?” Nuna pressed.
She and I shared a long stare, her determined violet eyes unfaltering. Smirking, I asked, “You’re dead set on this, aren’t you?”
Matching my smirk, she said, “Something’s only impossible until some jackass manages to do it, right?”
Taking one last draw, I snuffed out the last couple inches of my cigar in the wooden bowl. “Fuck it, shady planning it is. Hate to ask the obvious, but are Tru and Yanet our fellow conspirators?”
“Yes,” Yanet agreed, Tru giving a nod and smile from where she stood. “Nuna reached out after hearing Tru and I talking about your plan. If what you say is possible, then we’ll do our best to aid you. My principle is in energy and I have a small affinity to fire.” She averted her gaze. “B-but my skills are practically non-existent,” she muttered.
I quirked a brow. “Oh? What can you do?”
Yanet held out her hand, and after a moment of focus, a soft yellow flame started dancing across her palm. “I can manifest fire at my will.” Her palm snapped shut, killing the flame. “Truthfully, my level puts me barely above a candle.”
“Pretty damn impressive to me,” I said with a chuckle, earning a mousy smile from the woman. I gave Meriel and Fell a sideways glance. “I don’t exactly want to drag you guys down with me, so the choice is yours.”
“I’m insulted you even asked,” Fell said, doing her best to sound hurt.
Meriel dug her elbow into my side. “Not getting rid of me that easily.”
I looked back at Nuna. “The vote of confidence is nice, but I’m still stuck with the plan.” She urged me on with a small nod. “Well, aside from the fact that we have to use a large sum of fine grains, to get a good explosion would mean sealing off a section of tunnel. And, hypothetically, let’s say Luppa gets better soon and can make a stone wall or something. If all the flour is sectioned off, how can we ignite it?”
Nuna cradled her chin in thought. “That… does sound like a substantial problem. Is closing off the tunnel that important?”
“It’s the main crux of the plan,” I lamented with a sigh. “Everything in nature follows the path of least resistance. If the aerated flour ignites, the pressure from the explosion will just run however long down the tunnel until it peters out. With a solid plug, the pressure won’t have anywhere to go. All that force slamming into the compromised stone, ideally, should be the extra nudge to get the cliff to collapse.” I paused and rubbed my eyes. “Christ. Now that my excitement died down, this is sounding more and more far-fetched.”
“Perhaps,” Nuna agreed, “but the alternative is to do nothing. This explosion of yours may be our only means.”
A groan almost crawled up my throat. “This is why I wanted to get more heads thinking on this. As it stands, I got nothing. How can we bank the weight of everything on this plan when it can barely hold water?”
Fell gasped and jumped to her feet, her puff tail wagging through the air like an out of control fire hose.
“What? What? What?” Meriel asked in a panic as she chased after t
he woman briskly walking circles around the room.
Before I even had a chance to ask, Fell completed another lap around the room and dropped to her knees in front of me.
“I got it!” the fox-woman exclaimed as she clutched my face.
“You’re scaring me, Fell.”
She wrinkled her nose and stared back at me with her bright, coppery eyes. “You said to get the desired effect was to have an airtight seal, right? How about a watertight seal?”
“What are you imply—” It clicked and my mouth just dropped, the sheer overload of awe shutting down my brain for a second. “Son of a bitch…”
“By the One, out with it, you two!” Meriel fretted.
“Oliver, if you’ve had a breakthrough, why don’t you—” Nuna started before I cut her off.
“Yanet,” I called, managing to startle her. “The fire magic thing. Can you just do it in the palm of your hand, or can you do it from far away?”
“O-only from ten feet…” she admitted bashfully.
I grinned at the beautiful woman. “That’s perfect, Yanet.” Nuna was starting to look pissed, and Meriel’s eyes still carried panic, so I proudly stated, “We might have a plan now. Before we get that, I really can’t stress this enough.” I paused and gave all the women hard, even looks. “There is a very real likelihood of having this work too well and having us going down with part of the mountainside. Are all of you comfortable with that?”
Nuna crossed her arms over her chest and countered, “Are you?”
The last remnants of giddiness slipped away as I chewed on her question. There wasn’t anything to really think about, though.
“My future went up at the same time home did. The Null took everything, so I’m going to take something important away from them. But this is more than getting even. I’m pissed at whoever decided my world wasn’t worth saving, and if I ever meet them, then I’ll probably break their face, but none of you had a hand in that. None of you deserve what’s happening here.
“This is my plan, and I’ll see it through. Until the very end.”
Meriel and Fell settled their hands on my shoulders, their faces conveying the devotion to their duty as fellow soldiers. Nuna took her time scanning my face. Once finished evaluating the sincerity, she gave me a tender, honey-laced smile.
Reaching over to Yanet’s shoulder, and taking a moment to shoot Tru another look, Nuna said, “We’re with you, Oliver. Until the very end.”
Despite the heavy nature and the very likely outcome of our collective demise, I felt ecstatic. “Okay, we’re all on the same page. Now, let’s hammer out the details.”
Chapter 20
The girls and I spent the better part of an hour tidying up loose ends and working out how much flour it was going to take for an ideal explosion.
Since Tru was on cooking detail last, she gave me a more accurate account of the food stores. The ripe, rotting meat from the Prowling Terror had secured over a hundred pounds of fish over the last several days, and they still had a few hundred pounds left of the bear-monster’s meat to use for the future. The Isusi realized long ago that nearly all the wildlife from the forest had scurried away in lieu of the Null presence. Aside from the scarce and more aggressive species that may not be perturbed by the evil presence, fish were their only additional means of food other than the wild greens and fruits. So long as they had good bait and fish too dumb to be afraid of evil, then their existing food stores could take a small hit for our plan.
If stung and made me feel like a bastard, but I decided one hundred and fifty pounds of their fine grains would be enough for what I had in mind. A whole week’s worth of bread, almost a fourth of their entire grain supply. It didn’t sit right with me, but if the world goes south, then an extra week wouldn't matter.
Seeing no sense in waiting, it was decided that the plan would be enacted later that night. The Isusi felt secure in their temple, and there haven’t been any problems in the past. There was very little worry of getting caught. Yanet suggested asking others for additional support, but I shut the idea down. Six people already seemed too much for what could end in a colossal clusterfuck. However, we were going to need the bodies to carry the weight of everything we were going to need.
Once the planning concluded, Nuna, Tru, and Yanet went their separate ways. There was little to do on our ends, so we took care of it discreetly as possible and got my spare rucksack ready for that night. With that done, we decided to visit Luppa.
Wren had gotten the priestess to a more stable condition, so she was conscious we went in to thank her for saving our asses. Recalling the pillars she crafted reminded me of the handiwork from the late Jorn. The old wizard summoned a fifteen-foot wall and a set of stone jaws before he got into the danger zone. The disparity in their limits almost sounded unfair, but then there was the whole degree-thing. If using magic was like lifting a heavy weight, then one would get hurt if they tried lifting something too heavy for them.
Both Luppa and Jorn were impressive in my eyes. Tingles of awe ran across my skin whenever I recalled what Jorn did to the Caster, or how Luppa could cause stone to break or grow at her will. What would a tenth-degree mage be like?
Seeing Luppa on the road of recovery helped my mood some. After a quick chat, we left the priestess to rest and the healer to work, then paid Sanvi a visit.
As we stepped into the room, Nuna was just leaving Sanvi’s side. She and I shared a knowing look as she gave an innocuous greeting while passing through the doorway. Not trying to look suspicious myself, I crossed the room and dropped to my knees besides Sanvi’s bedroll, asking how she felt. Two gemstone-like eyes of violent watched me through a veil of dark lashes; even as groggy and muscular as she was, Sanvi was a gorgeous woman. Even though she was the one with a busted arm, she asked how I was feeling.
As I should’ve expected, Nuna shared what had transpired that morning just before we arrived, so Sanvi’s question was aimed at that. Since there were a couple of other lamia lounging in the room, I acted natural and vented my frustrations respectfully. Letting Sanvi in on the plan seemed right since I’ve started to respect and trust her, especially after she spoke up for me during the initial plan.
Of course, I was too paranoid. Per usual.
Sanvi casually announced she needed rest, then added that since she was extra sore that it would be best for her to sleep alone for tonight. Before the girls and I could take our leave, she asked if I could hug her.
As she used her powerful arms to pull me into her firm mounds, Sanvi whispered, “Good luck.”
I stared back at her dark, exotic face, the admiration I felt for her soaring even higher. Smirking, I squeezed her good hand and said I hoped to be her bed warmer soon. Fell, Meriel, and I gave the proud warrioress what could very well be our last good-bye, then left.
We carried on for the rest of the afternoon and early evening like normal. The girls chatted idly with the others, and I went on helping where I could. After a dinner of more fish soup and bread, the girls and I retired to the private confines of my room. Nuna said that she, Tru, and Yanet would retrieve us once they were ready. With nothing to do but wait, the girls and I got comfortable on the bedroll and cuddled.
Nothing was said for a while. We all stared blankly at the ceiling, simply enjoying a companionable silence for a bit.
“Can I ask you girls something?”
“Anything,” they said in tandem.
I pursed my lips, thinking back. “You two said you met while you served, but how exactly?”
“Oh…,” Meriel started, her voice drifting as she thought. “That feels like a lifetime ago.”
Fell chuckled. “It was only four years ago. Have you forgotten already?”
“How could I?” Meriel asked sarcastically. “Well, Oliver, I met Fell at the end of an uprising on Warib.”
I turned my head fully to Meriel. “Uprising?”
Understanding flashed across her platinum eyes, then she sighed. “Ah, yes, we n
ever mentioned things like that. The Null and invasions aren’t the only things allied worlds have to fight. There are select groups of people who herald the Null with the same praise as they do the One.”
“Seriously?” I asked, appalled and angry. “How the actual fuck can people see literal evil as anything but evil?”
Fell made a note of displeasure. “To rationalize the thoughts of the mad will leave you made yourself. But, from what I’ve gathered from through others, sympathizers see the Null as the cure for the pain of existence. Quite simply, they hold the belief the Null was the true First.”
“Regardless,” Meriel said, pulling the conversation back on track, “sympathizers are somehow recruited by the Null and are given instructions to infiltrate certain worlds and attempt to open portals for their main force. Only the upper echelon of our military personal and mages know of the finer details and their workings of black magic to attempt such things.
“The strategies they employ are taking over capital cities and destroying any and all Bridges to cut off support. A few hundred crazy soldiers and mages can create a lot of damage when they’re in the heart of a peaceful city. We both know firsthand.”
Meriel sat up, looking contemplative. She reached up and ran the knuckles of her fingers over the scar under her eye, and then she gave me an uncomfortable glance.
“I’m sure you’ve noticed this,” she continued in a mutter. “The squad I was with was given the order to clear a congested district of Warib of stragglers. Sensing their cause had failed, and that escape was impossible, the sympathizers rushed us. One moment I was walking down a narrow street, the next, I found myself getting tackled through the door of an abandoned home.
“Instinct took over and I was able to fight out my attacker’s grasp, but it was dark and I was dazed. We traded a few quick blows, then I caught a knee that emptied my stomach and sent me into a dark corner. All I saw was the faint glint of a sword’s edge. Burying my pain and fear, I rushed just as he swung his sword and sank the entire length of my dagger into his gut. Then I kept stabbing until his entrails spilled out.”
Heart of the Resonant- the Soldier's Tale Page 27